OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians should listen to the country's top public servant when it comes to the questions about whether Trudeau's office tried to pressure former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop prosecuting SNC-Lavalin.Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick delivered a blunt assessment at the House of Commons justice committee Thursday, telling MPs that there was absolutely no improper pressure.Wernick said any information Wilson-Raybould got was to ensure she had the context she needed to decide what to do but that she was always told the final decision was hers.Trudeau's government has been thrown off course by the allegations that Wilson-Raybould was under pressure by the Prime Minister's Office to allow SNC-Lavalin to avoid a criminal prosecution for fraud and bribery by entering into a remediation agreement with the federal government.Trudeau says this morning Wernick is an "extraordinary public servant" who has worked in both Liberal and Conservative governments, and that Canadians should listen very carefully when Wernick chooses to speak publicly on the matter.Wernick also said he doesn't think Wilson-Raybould is bound by solicitor-client privilege not to tell her side of the story but Trudeau repeats that he is still receiving advice on whether to waive it because there are potential consequences for two ongoing court cases against the company.The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues his East Coast tour Friday with a stop in Newfoundland, where he stressed the importance of supporting university research.Trudeau visited the Core Science Facility, under construction at Memorial University in St. John's.The project is expected to be completed by 2020 and Trudeau says infrastructure projects like the centre are important in supporting innovation, research and science — things he says are all "essential elements to a thriving economy."Trudeau deflected reporters' questions on some local issues including the federal loan guarantee for the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric megaproject and the need for a new prison in St. John's, saying he was looking forward to discussing issues important to the province in a meeting later today with Premier Dwight Ball.However, Trudeau says his government is committed to the province, as evidenced by its financial support of infrastructure projects such as the science facility at Memorial.The prime minister said his government had approved more than 350 infrastructure projects in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2016.The Canadian Press

The funeral for seven Syrian children who died in a fast-moving house fire will be held on Saturday. A Facebook post from the Ummah Masjid and Community Center says the service will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Cunard Centre on Halifax's waterfront. The post says the funeral will follow in the Islamic traditions, and all are welcome to participate.

An environmental group that tried to widen the scope of the National Energy Board's reconsideration of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion says it fully expects the board to endorse the project again in its ruling today. "I think the NEB has a long record of siding with industry over communities and other concerns ... so we have every expectation that they're going to recommend the project go ahead despite the serious problems with it," said Sven Biggs, climate campaigner for Stand.earth, a Vancouver environmental group formerly called ForestEthics. The federal regulator is scheduled to release its recommendations today but the restart of construction of the controversial crude conduit from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., still faces hurdles.

A bloodstained jacket, a missing cellphone and a multitude of police errors — Crown prosecutors are expected to conclude the evidence portion of their case against Dennis Oland at his second degree murder trial in Saint John, N.B., today. Oland has been charged with the bludgeoning death of his father, multimillionaire businessman Richard Oland, in what the prosecution has described as a fit of rage spurred by Dennis Oland's money problems. The final prosecution witness, John Ainsworth, will be cross examined by defence this afternoon.